Leap-day, added to February so this year has 366 days instead of the usual 365 days. A leap-day is added in each year divisible by 4 except century-years unless those years are divisible by 400 (eg, 2000). Thus, 97 leap-days are added every 400 years. The purpose of adding a leap-day is to ensure years remain close to the true seasonal year.

Zodiacal light. Late February is the best time of the year in the northern hemisphere to look for the zodiacal light (caused by sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of the solar system). Choose a clear, moonless night, about 1 to 2 hours after sunset, and look along the ecliptic in the west for a large triangular-shaped glow extending up from the horizon.

The Planets: Venus continues its dazzling display in the west-northwest evening sky. Jupiter, although much fainter, starts to rise in the East before Venus sets. A small telescope will easily show Jupiter's clouds and its 4 bright moons. Saturn's magnificent rings, currently near maximum tilt open, are another easy target for small telescopes. Sadly Mars, the host of robotic explorers Spirit and Opportunity, appears as a tiny orange-colored dot even in large telescopes.